Dubai-based production company Alchemy Films and Magnet Photo Production have finalised a merger to create a single entity known as Magnet.
The joining together of the two creates the region’s ‘first creatively driven integrated content creation lab’, according to Linktia, the holding group under whose umbrella both companies fall.
The new operation will be staffed by 30 content creation specialists across four teams: production, creative, post-production and locations. The teams will be led by newly-appointed Magnet chief executive officer Philippe Vignal with the support of managing director Ishani Pawar and chief crea-tive officer Daniel Eisen. The production team will be led by Jax Donaldson as execu-tive producer, Lucy Beck as head of department, stills, and George Manolopoulos as head of department, VFX.
The locations team will continue to be headed by locations manager, Johnny Whyte. Magnet will launch an independent website for its locations division, www. magnetlocations.com. The website will be live in the first week of November, featuring more than 500 public and private locations, making it the largest locations library in the region.
“This is the era of integration,” said Vignal. “I truly believe that standalone film and photo production entities are no longer sustainable nor relevant in a competitive market that now demands high volumes of quality content. Everything is changing. We are changing our needs are changing and so in our line of business there is a new need for truly integrated, creatively driven, content creation. Magnet is that.
“Through the merger we hope to create new opportunities for innovation within the production industry. We are born in Dubai but our language is a shared common vision. Magnet brings a powerful combination of resources that go beyond the mere technical aspect of production. We dive deeply into the creative. Through an integrated approach, we offer a flexible, collaborative model to better support creative agencies and their visual content creation needs.
“We are a community of creatively driven individuals. This is the heart of Magnet. The merger has catalysed this coming together. A network of talented artists and storytellers all wanting to come together to better tell stories and to explore their shared curiosity. We are excited to explore collaborations and raise the standards of content in the region.”
The newly-formed creative team will allow Magnet to actively participate in the creative process with clients in order to create meaningful content for brands. The Alchemy brand will continue to live within Linktia and will be dedicated to other projects in the future. Those projects have yet to be divulged.